[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to Expound, a verse
by verse study of God's word. Our goal is to expand your
knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the word of God
in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational. So we're in the book of Acts,
chapter 24 before we take the Lord's supper together. There was a family
that moved to a town, and a local pastor in that
town invited them to church. And the husband, the
head of the family said, well, I don't know
if I want to go to church. Maybe one day I'll
come, but I want to get my life
straightened out first. So months went by, and the
pastor invited them again, and the guy had the same excuse. Well, my life just isn't
straightened out yet. But when it is,
I'll come to church. A few weeks later that
man died, and the wife asked if they could have the
funeral at the local church. The pastor said,
sure, no problem. One of the church members
saw that the pastor was doing a funeral for this man, nobody
knew who he was, and they said, is this guy a Christian? Or was he a Christian? He said, well, I don't know
if he ever received Christ. Nobody ever heard
him give a testimony. He certainly never come to our
church, but I can say this, he's a man of his word. Because he said he would come
to church when his life got straightened out, and he did. As he pointed down
at that casket, there he was straightened
out with rigor mortis. You know, it's
pretty bad when you have to wait to get your
life straightened out with rigor mortis rather
than righteousness, and God wants to
straighten out your life with his righteousness. That man, that husband, that
father was a procrastinator. And atheism has
slain its thousands, but procrastination has
slain its tens of thousands. People just put things off. One day I'm going
to receive Christ. One day I'm going to
get involved in church. One day, one day,
and it never comes. In this chapter we read a story,
not only of Paul the Apostle on his way to Caesarea,
on his way to Rome, but we read of a
procurator of Judea. A procurator of Judea. The procurator who became
the procrastinator. Now, the procurator-- when
you hear the word procurator, I hope that does ring a bell. I hope when you think
of procurator of Judea, you probably think
Pontius Pilate. He's the most famous
in the New Testament. He was the governor or
procurator, appointed leader of that area of Judea 2000 years
ago at the trial of Christ. But after him, came another
one and then another one. And then finally a King. And so what we're
dealing with here in chapters 24, 25, and 26-- so we're not going
to read them all. I'm going to make
reference to chapter 24. But we have in these chapters
a period of two years time that take place in Paul's life. Two years with three trials. And the three trials take
place in one city, the city of Caesarea by the sea. Interestingly,
they have a staged stepped theater like this
one, only much, much bigger still today in Caesarea. But Paul the Apostle is
there, and he is there before two procurators. The two procurators are the
names of Antonius Felix, the second is Porcius Festus. You know them only
as Felix and Festus, but that's their full name. Antonius Felix. Porcius Festus. And then a King by the
name of Herod Agrippa II. What we focus on
here is the trial of Paul the Apostle
before that first guy that I mentioned, Antonius
Felix, not Felix the Cat, but the guy who
succeeded Pontius Pilate as the procurator of Judea. In Acts 24, verse 1, we
read, "Now, after five days, Ananias the high priest
came down with the elders and a certain orator
named Tertullus. These gave evidence to
the governor against Paul. And when he was called upon,
Tertullus began his accusation saying, 'seeing
that through you we enjoy great peace and prosperity
is being brought to this nation by your foresight, we accept
it always and in all places, most noble Felix with
all thankfulness. Nevertheless, not to be
tedious to you any further, I beg you to hear by your
courtesy a few words from us. For we have found this man,
that's Paul the Apostle, 'a plague, a creator of
dissension among all the Jews throughout the world, and
a ringleader of the sect of the Nazarenes.'" Now, that's quite a
charge to call somebody a plague, a disease. This guy, Paul, is a disease. Man, he's a plague
on our nation. And did you notice
that they call him a ringleader of a
group called the Nazarenes? Now, that's the very first
time, and the only time, the entire New
Testament uses that term to refer to Christians. Nazarenes. We know that they were first
called Christians in Antioch. We see that term in the book
of Acts, the term Christian. That was a term of derision
by the world, by the way. Christians didn't come up
with the term "Christian," the world did. But this second word,
Nazarenes, was probably also a term of disrespect,
because you remember when there was a conversation,
and one of the disciples said I found Jesus of Nazareth?" And Nathaniel said, can anything
good come out of Nazareth? So to be called a Nazarene
was not like a compliment, it was like a chop. And so, obviously, there
was this term used by Jews in Jerusalem to
refer to Christians, not as Christians, but
as Nazarenes, follower of the guy from that place
up north that nobody likes, Nazareth. The term that
Christians preferred to use for themselves
to describe themselves, was "the way." "The way." Jesus said, I am the
way, the truth, the life. So believers didn't refer
to themselves as Christians, but as followers of "the way." They were messianic
Jews for the most part, but they became
followers of "the way." Here, they are called the
sect of the Nazarenes. Tertullus goes on
to say, "He even tried to profane the temple
and we seized him, and wanted to judge him
according to our law, but the commander, Lysias, came
by, and with great violence took him out of our hands,
commanding his accusers to come to you. By examining him yourself, you
may ascertain all these things of which we accuse him, and the
Jews also assented, or agreed, maintaining that
these things were so." So the trial begins. And the trial begins with
the prosecuting attorney by the name of Tertullus. Evidently, he was
a Hellenistic Jew, because his name
is a Roman name. And so he has a
Jewish background, because he is hired by
the Council, the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem, to represent their
case before the procurator, Antonius Felix. So Tertullus lays it on thick. He's bringing a very heavy
charge, several of them against Paul. He's sort of sucking
up to the governor. You know, you are so
awesome and amazing, and we have peace
because of your reign. But then he lays into Paul
and brings these accusations. Then, it says in
verse 9, "the Jews assented, maintaining that
these things were so." So you got to picture the scene. There in Caesarea, the
governor of Judea is there. The lawyer presents the case. Those Jewish people
from the Sanhedrin, the Jewish council in Jerusalem,
have traveled 65 miles to be in that town
for this trial, and they're all sitting in the
corner nodding their heads, agreeing, like, yeah,
yeah, what he said. As if to persuade the
governor that they really have an important case here. Now, Paul's going to stand up. Now, Paul is all alone. He does not have a
representing attorney. He has no defense. He has the Holy Spirit. And he is very competent
with words as well. You're going to find he
does not fumble at all. He'll get right to the point. But I've always loved
what Martin Luther said, and I think Paul the
Apostle lived by it. He said with God,
one is a majority. They've got their lawyers. They're all lawyered up. They've got their attorneys. They've got the council
members nodding their heads. But with God, one is a majority. Paul will stand up,
and in verse 10, "then Paul after the
governor nodded to him to speak, answered, 'in as much
as I know that you have been for many years the
judge of this nation, I do the more cheerfully
answer for myself, because you may
ascertain that it has been no more than
12 days since I went up to Jerusalem to worship. And they neither found me in the
temple disputing with anyone, nor inciting the crowd,
either in the synagogues or in the city. Nor can they prove the things
of which they now accuse me. But this I confess to you-- that according to The Way, in
my Bible that is capitalized. There' the reference--
according to The Way, which they call a sect, 'so I
worship the God of my fathers, believing all things which
are written in the law and in the prophets.'" Paul's defense is
clear, and it's simple. I'm not a rabble rouser. I didn't stir up any trouble. I cause no riot whatsoever. But then he says
something, and I'm wondering if you can
agree with this statement. That last part where
he said, "believing all things which are written in
the law and in the prophets." Can you say that? Do you believe all the things
written in the Old Testament, the law and the prophets? Do you believe the
story of creation? Do you believe the story
of the worldwide flood as told in the book of Genesis? Do you believe the
stories of the Passover and the plagues that happened,
and the parting of the Red Sea, and the great fish
that swallowed Jonah? Because I know many people
who say, I follow the Lord and I read my Bible, but
I wonder if they can say, I believe all the things written
in the law and in the prophets? Jesus could. Paul could. Paul believed about
the Bible what Jesus believed about the Bible. Our Lord Jesus, the
one we claim to follow, said, not one jot, not one
tittle will, by any means, pass from the law until all
of it, all of it, all of it is fulfilled. That's what he believed
about the Bible. The Old Testament,
he was referring to. And Paul the Apostle, likewise
says, "I believe all things." Too many people I meet get
messed up over this issue. And they have a theology. I would describe it
as Dalmatian theology. I had a Dalmatian. I love the breed of
dog, but they have a theology like my old dog. Dalmatian theology. They believe that the
Bible is inspired in spots. That spot is inspired. And that spot is inspired. And I like that red letter spot. And that psalm is a cool psalm. That's inspired. But they cannot say truthfully,
I believe all things written in the law and in the prophets. Jesus could, and
did stated that. And Paul the Apostle,
likewise could, and did. That's the legacy that we have. I'll get even more basic. I hope you own one of these-- a Bible. I hope you own it. I hope you carry it. I hope you read it. I hope you study it. And more than that, I
hope you believe it. And if you have
struggles with it, I hope you get through
those struggles. I had many struggles in
my early Christian walk with things in the Bible
and stories that I read. And so I went on a search,
and I found good answers to those issues. But I love that. "I believe all things which
are written in the law and in the prophets." He continues, on
verse 15, "I have hope in God, which
they themselves also accept that there will
be a Resurrection of the dead. Both of the just,
and of the unjust." If you've been with us
in our studies in Acts, we've already covered the
fact that part of the council was made up of Pharisees. Part of the council was
made up of Sadducees. The Pharisees believed in
angels, spirits, miracles, Resurrection, all
of this scripture. The Sadducees did not
believe in a Resurrection, did not believe in
miracles, did not believe in the Old
Testament scripture, except the first
five books of Moses. So there was a
division that Paul capitalized when he was in
Jerusalem for the first trial. Now he just says
what he believes. I believe, like they believe,
at least the Pharisees in that group,
that there will be a Resurrection from the dead,
of the just and the unjust. "This being so," verse 16. "So I, myself always
strive to have a conscience without offense
toward God and men. Now, after many years, I came
to bring alms and offerings to my nation." Paul said, I came to
Jerusalem to worship. He stated that a
few verses prior. Now he says, I came to
bring alms and an offering. He was in the temple
making an offering, but he had brought alms. What are alms? Monies. He collected money
from Gentile churches and was bringing them to
Jewish believers in Jerusalem. So man, I've been in
Jerusalem improving the economy of Jerusalem. I brought outside money in. I brought support
to help our nation. That's his defense. It was all true. Verse 18, "in the midst of
which some Jews from Asia found me purified in the
temple, neither with a mob nor with a tumult. They ought
to have been here before you to object if they had
anything against me, or else let those who
are here themselves say if they have found
any wrongdoing in me while I stood
before the council." Now, Paul brings up
an interesting point. Do you remember what
we have read so far? When Paul was arrested
in the temple, right before that,
it says, some Jews supposed that Paul the
Apostle had brought Trophimus the Ephesian into the
temple courts with him. That's how the riots started. It was Jews from Asia who made
that first charge against Paul. Now, according to Roman law, if
you bring a prisoner to trial like this, and the accusers,
the original accusers of the wrongdoing
aren't there, they're to be found and
tried themselves. There is a stiff penalty
for making an accusation, then not showing up in court. Paul New Roman law. He brings this up. So we have Tertullus,
prosecuting attorney, some of
the council members, but not the original accusers. So he says, where are
the original accusers? They're not here at court. And if the ones bringing
the charge who were there in the council, they can
think back to the first trial when nothing at all
was found against me. He makes a great point. Verse 21, "unless it is for
this one statement, which I cried out standing
among them concerning the Resurrection
of the dead, I am being judged by you this day. But when Felix
heard these things, having more accurate
knowledge of The Way, he adjourned the
proceedings and said, when Lysias the
commander comes down, I will make a decision
in your case." The author of this
book of Acts is who? Luke. Luke. Luke the doctor, the physician,
the traveling companion with Paul, the historian
who wrote the book of Luke also wrote the book of Acts. And did you notice that
Luke the historian ascribes to the procurator,
Antonius Felix that he is a person who has
an understanding, a greater knowledge, a more accurate
knowledge of The Way. Now he succeeded Pontius Pilate. He would have heard
of the crucifixion. Big news. He would have heard of the
news of the Resurrection. He would have known
that Christians are spreading around. That many people are upset
that Christianity is spreading around the Middle East. He has heard the rumors. He no doubt has some concern. He has been briefed on the
case of Jesus of Nazareth, and his capital punishment,
death by crucifixion. So he has a knowledge and
understanding of The Way. Now, who was this procurator? Well, he wasn't a good guy. He was a bad guy. Antonius Felix at
one time was a slave who was given freedom
by the emperor in Rome by the name of Claudius. Claudius gave him his freedom. But he was a nobody. But this nobody had a brother
by the name of Marcus, who was very popular in the
Roman court in Rome itself. He got his brother the job
as procurator of Judea. This man, called Felix, is
the name he gave himself. It means happy. In Spanish, [SPANISH]. In Latin, Felix. Happy. But he wasn't a happy man,
nor did he bring happiness wherever he went. He was a disaster. In fact, the Roman historian
by the name of Tacitus said, "He was a master of
cruelty and lust, and he exercised
the power of a King with the spirit of a slave." He was brutal. Paul knew it. They knew it. Tertullus knew it, but he
tried to butter him up saying, you're just so awesome. But verse 22, we're nearing
to an end toward this chapter. "But when Felix
heard these things, having more accurate
knowledge of The Way, he adjourned the
proceedings and said, when Lysias the
commander comes down, I will make a
decision on your case. So he commanded the
centurion to keep Paul, and to let him have
liberty, and told him not to forbid any of his friends
to provide for, or visit him. And after some days, when Felix
came with his wife, Drusilla, who was Jewish, he sent for
Paul and heard him concerning the faith in Christ." Boy, I wish I could have
been a fly on the wall in those conversations. The procurator calls
for the prisoner. The procurator says
to the prisoner, tell us about your
faith in Christ. And we're going to see what Paul
says to him in just a moment. But it says that he
was there with his wife by the name of Drusilla. Drusilla was the youngest
daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. Now, I've told you about
the Herod's in our studies in the book of Acts. I mentioned that there a mess. I've gone through all
the different ones. I'll leave it at
that for tonight. I think the wind will blow
all recollection of it far away if I were
to get into it. So she was the youngest
daughter of King Herod Agrippa I. She was known for her beauty,
and she was married at age 16. Now, she comes from the
family of Herods's, which means it's her
grandfather who killed those babies in Bethlehem. It was her great uncle who had
John the Baptist's head severed from his body. So they're a family
that was well-known, illustrious, they were
an edomite family, but says she was Jewish. So she had some kind
of messianic hope. Also, she was married before. She was married at
age 16, and Felix, after she was married to
whoever she was married to, saw her and lured her
away from her husband. And so he broke
up that marriage, and got this married
woman to become his wife. Now, it's his third marriage. It's her second, but
it's his third marriage. So Felix and Drusilla
call for Paul the Apostle. And they sent for Paul and heard
him concerning faith in Christ. Now, the last few
verses are the best, so I'm slowing down
just a little bit. I bet that Felix
was simply curious. He was just wondering
who is this Paul guy? I keep hearing about him. I've heard about
Jesus of Nazareth. I want to know more. I'm curious about
this belief system. And I'm wondering, why would
a guy risk life and limb, a prominent Jewish
rabbi in Jerusalem, travel around the world at the
risk of being misunderstood? At the risk of being
beaten up and killed, and here, almost
killed in Jerusalem. What would motivate
a guy like that? He's got to be crazy. He's got to be a nut case. I'm interested in this guy. What does he have to say? Reminds me a story about a man
who went to a store, clothing store, and he bought a shirt. It was a bright green shirt
with big purple polka dots. Ugliest thing in the world. He bought it, took
it home, but he discovered that in the
pocket of the shirt was a note from a girl
who worked at the factory. It said, whoever
gets the shirt would you please send me your picture. And so he thought,
oh, this is romance. Something could start
because of this. So he put the shirt on, got
a nice picture of himself, sent it to her, hoping that
he would get a letter back, which he did. And she said, oh,
don't misunderstand me. I'm just the seamstress
at the shirt factory, and I was wondering
what kind of jerk would buy a shirt like that. She was just curious. Who's going to buy this thing? So Antonius Felix, I think
he and his wife are curious. She has a messianic hope. She's Jewish. He's been placed there by
the favor of his brother, in the favor of Claudius Caesar. They're just curious. And so verse 25, "now
as he, that is as Paul, reasoned about righteousness,
self-control, and the judgment to come." Notice that again. "As he reasoned about
righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to
come, Felix was afraid." Mark that. One translation
says Felix trembled. That's a more
accurate translation. He started shaking. He started trembling. And he answered,
"go away for now. When I have a convenient
time, I will call for you. Meanwhile, he also
hoped that money would be given him by Paul. That he might release him. Therefore, he sent for him more
often and conversed with him." I love this verse of scripture. I love these verses. And if you've been
with us in Israel, these are the
verses I often cover when we are in the
theater at Caesarea by the coast where
this took place. What I love is the
word "reasoned." Paul reasoned with him. [GREEK] is the Greek word. And [GREEK] means to
think through something. To think it through. To resolve the issue. To reason it through. I find that the Christian faith
is a very reasonable faith. And so I get mystified,
because so many people are unreasonable when it
comes to matters of faith. Well, why should I believe that? Well, you should
just believe it. Well, why? Because I said so. But why? Well, because I've
always believed it. And you've always believe it. So you should always believe it. That's not reasonable. Give me reasons why you believe. The Bible says, we
should be able to give to unbelievers a reason
for the hope that is in us. And Paul reasoned. He thought it through. He worked it through with him. But what makes me chuckle,
it says that Felix trembled. Felix was afraid. And I laugh at this, because
it's a role reversal. Who's in charge? Felix. Who's the prisoner? Paul. Let's see, procurator
in charge, prisoner not in charge in chains. Ha. I'm thinking, prisoners
should be trembling, procurators should be laughing. No, the guy in charge is
shaking, is trembling, because Paul has
reasoned certain things through with him. DL Moody used to say,
if you throw a stone into a pack of dogs,
it's always the one that got hit that does the yelping. This dog's a yelping. The procurator is trembling. Why? Well, it says that Paul reasoned
with him about righteousness. Can you hear the conversation? Can you imagine what
it must have been like? Paul, tell me about
your belief system. Tell me about your philosophy. No, I'm going to tell you how to
get right with the living God. You are not right with God. I'm going to tell you how
to get right with God. That's what righteousness means. How to be right with God. Maybe he even went
through truths like, if anyone is in
Christ, He's a new creation. Old things pass away. All things become new. He described how to
be right with God. Second, he said, he
reasoned with him about righteousness,
and then self control. What does self control mean? It means the ability
to control yourself. It means the ability to
restrain your passions. We all have passions. Self-control is putting
a hold, a restraint, grabbing hold of your passions. Don't letting them rule you. You rule them. Now, why would that
make him shake? Because he had exercised
no self-control in this illicit relationship
he had with his wife, Drusilla. It's his third marriage. It's her second. He lured her away because
she was beautiful. All he cared about was his flesh
and gratifying his passions. So Paul is telling him about
how to get right with God, and how to exercise
self-control. Would you say Paul is
treading on thin ice here before this governor? I would. I think he's like,
Paul don't push it. And there's a third. "He reasoned with him about
righteousness, self-control, and the judgment to come." I mean, Paul's letting
them have it, both barrels. He's not pulling any punches. I think it went
something like this, you know, with all due respect,
governor, Felix, you're sitting on the throne judging
me, but one day you're going to be standing
before God's throne. You're going to be judged. You're going to be the
one on trial, not me. You. You will face a certain
judgment by a holy God. He reasoned with him about
righteousness, self-control, and the judgment. Can I ask you a question? I want you to think
about it, honestly. You don't have to
answer out loud. You can answer it just in
your head so nobody knows. Do you think it's
unloving to tell people that there is a hell awaiting
them if they reject Christ? Is that unloving to do so? Or is the most loving
thing you could ever do is to tell a person
the truth about eternity? That there is a
God who loves them, and there is a heaven
waiting for them, if they turn to Christ. But if they reject, there is
a certain judgment to come. Did you know that Jesus
Christ, the Lord of love, spoke about hell more than
anybody else in the Bible? Why? Because he knew about it. He had seen it. He had created it for
the devil and his angels. And he knew the
ramifications, thus he warned about it more
often than anyone else. So I want you to think about it. Is it unloving to tell
somebody about judgment? I think it's loving. If it's done with a sweetness
and a servant's heart, maybe even with
weeping if need be. I always have concerns as
church history moves on, and I see trends rise in church
movements around the world. And there is a trend to
soft pedal the gospel. So don't really talk much
about judgment or about blood on the cross, or heaven and
hell, but just make people feel good about who they are. Give them something positive. I think the most positive
thing you could ever do for a person is to
keep them from facing God's judgment in hell. Friends don't let
friends go to hell. There was an ad in a newspaper
for a church, locally, and the church ad said this-- "If you come, you will meet
friends and neighbors, not a bunch of religious fanatics. They might tell you where you
can find a good babysitter, or about a job opening
that they heard about, but they will not tell you
how to live your life." Close quote. Well, I've got to
tell you something. Jesus will tell you
how to live your life, because he knows how your
life ought to be lived. He is the way, the
truth, and the life. Christianity is the way. We're followers of the way. And not "a way," not one of
many roads or ways, "the way." Jesus will tell you how to run
your life and live your life, because he loves you. And if you're not living
your life the right way, he'll instruct you how to do it. That's what I love about truth. Sometimes we have
a fifth gospel. We know there are four
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, but some of us
have five gospels. Matthew, Mark, Luke,
and John, and our own. And we take selected
verses that we like, or that we think are nice,
and those comprise our gospel. But "the" gospel includes
righteousness, self-control, and the judgment,
which is to come. Now, his response is sad. Felix was afraid, but he
answered, "go away for now, and when I have a convenient
time, I will call for you." That's procrastination. Yeah, I'm going to wait till
my life gets straightened out, then I'll come. Procrastination-- putting
it off for tomorrow. You say, oh, but he trembled. Man, it says he was afraid. Isn't that awesome? Yes, it's awesome. But don't get so excited about
people's emotional response. Wait and see how it
translates the next day. I love seeing people come
to an emotional point and give their life to Christ,
but a shed tear is wonderful, but it can only last a moment. What about the changed life? Because some people have
shed a tear, but then they have a hardened heart. They harden their
heart right afterwards. And I got to tell you something. Hardening of the
heart spiritually, is a lot worse than a hardening
of the arteries physically. It's a worse condition. He really hardened
his heart, and he said, go away for now when
I have a convenient time, then I will call for you. It's one of the saddest
scriptures in all the Bible. You know, the Philippian
jailer asked Paul the Apostle-- remember when the
earthquake happened-- and Paul said,
don't hurt yourself. We're still here. And the Philippian jailer
said, what's the question? What must I do to be saved? What must I do to be saved? That's a good question. And he said, believe on
the Lord Jesus Christ and you shall be saved. But I have another question. What must I do to be lost? Answer-- absolutely nothing. Nothing. Don't turn to Christ. Let it go. Let it ride. Don't make a choice. Put it off. Absolutely nothing. What must I do to be saved? Believe in Christ. What must I do to be lost? Nothing. And Felix goes into history as
one who was the procrastinator. That's why I said atheism
has slain its thousands, but procrastination,
it's tens of thousands. Sometimes when I
give altar calls, and people come
forward afterwards, while I talk to them,
some of them will say, well, I just came for the first
time, or I just started coming, or I have really first heard
the gospel just in this message. But oftentimes, I
find people who said, you know, I've come for a
long time, weeks, months, even years, and I've heard. But I've just put it off. I was waiting for the day
I'd get straightened out. So once again, before we
take the Lord's Supper, I'm going to give you
an opportunity here. Quietly before the
Lord, to evaluate your own life, your
own choices, and ask, have you believed,
are you leaning upon, are you trusting
in, nothing else, no one else, but the
Lord Jesus Christ? If not, I'm going to give you an
opportunity to say yes to Him. I'm going to ask you
to close your eyes, bow your heads for
just a moment, Father, I want to thank you that
you give us in your words, stories of real
people in history, in time, and in space,
who made real choices. And the choice that he made,
Felix made, was to not choose. He chose to not choose. He chose to do nothing. He chose to wait and put it off. Seemingly, it's too
late, because we never read of a conversion. Oh, he trembled. His tears may have welled up
in his eyes or Drusilla's eyes. But there's no record
of transformation. Lord, what a mercy it was
to place the apostle Paul in that courtroom, and then
in those private chambers with the governor and his wife. And how merciful
you have been to us, to be able to hear the gospel
over and over and over again. To hear the word, to get
strengthened by your truth. But Lord, perhaps some
have just put it off. They've hardened
their hearts, and they thought one day, maybe
in the distant future, life's a little
bit different then, I'm going to give
my life to Christ. That day has never
come, until today. This could be the day. This could be their day. And you always speak
in the present tense. The world says tomorrow. The devil says tomorrow. The Bible says today is
the day of salvation. So Lord, I pray if there's
anybody sitting among us that you would prompt
them to say yes, to release their lives,
to respond and surrender their lives to Christ. So with head bowed and eyes
closed, if you've never receive Christ personally,
really, authentically, actually, as your
Lord and Savior, if you can't think of a
time when you made a choice to turn from your
past and turn to Him, I wanted to give you
that opportunity, right here and right now. Or if you wandered away
from Him, wherever you are, you're not following Him,
you're not obeying Him, you turn back to him. If either of those
describes you, I want you to raise
your hand up in the air. Just raise it up in
the air high enough so I can acknowledge you, and
we'll pray for you as we close. Just raise your hand up. You're saying, Skip,
here's my hand. God bless you, toward the
back to my right by that wall. Anybody else? Just raise your hand up. Over here to my left, far left. I see you guys way
up in the back. God bless you guys. Anyone else? Anyone else? Just raise that hand up. Father, for those who have
acknowledged their need with an upright
hand, or raised hand, that's all it really takes
is the acknowledgment. I'm in trouble and I need God. I need forgiveness. Lord, I pray that your
mercy or love, your grace will wash over
them in this place, even as this breeze
is washing over us. Lord, your the God who
takes away our sins. You're the Lamb of God who
takes away the sin of the world. Those of you have
raised your hand, I just want you to pray
right where you're seated. You can say these
words out loud. You can say them in your heart. But you say them, and you mean
them as you say them to God. Say Lord, I give you my life. I know, I admit, I'm a sinner. Please forgive me. I believe in Jesus, that he
came from heaven to earth. That he died on a cross, that
he shed his blood for my sin, but that he raised
from the dead. And that he's alive right now. I turn from my past. I repent of my sin. I turn to Jesus as my Lord
and my Savior, my master. Here's my life, Lord,
take it, all of it. Fill me with your Holy
Spirit, and help me to live a life pleasing to you. In Jesus' name. Amen. Amen. And God bless those of you
who made that decision. For more resources from Calvary
Albuquerque and Skip Heitzig, visit calvaryabq.org.
